So you’ve made the move to a new home: congratulations! Whether you’re ready to settle immediately or have a long list of to-dos, you may want to prioritize a few things for your new home. Most of these items apply equally to renters and owners, but we’ve added a couple new-homeowner-specific things at the end, as well!
Take Pictures of Any Damages … Or Just Weird Things
This is especially important for renters but is also useful for owners. (If you purchased and got a thorough inspection with photographs, start there and add to it!) As a renter, these pictures will help protect your security deposit. For anyone, having these pictures can help you make decisions about decorating (maybe you want dramatic drapes to cover that wonky window instead of blinds that will draw attention to it), and if you will be DIYing any repair work, it can help you to prioritize.
Consider Short and Long Term Goals for Decorating
If you plan to make substantial changes such as painting, changing the flooring, and the like, part of you might consider just waiting on hanging up your pictures. But if you’re not careful, you’ll blink and it will be six months later and your art will still be languishing in boxes. Hanging up art and arranging your furniture takes a little time at the beginning, but allows you to really enjoy your space—and you can always change it!
Think About Storage
There’s a good chance that when you were packing to move you thought a little bit about downsizing, right? And there’s an even better chance that your stuff was packed in a (mostly) organized fashion, barring those last few boxes. Don’t unpack into chaos! Think about where you want to store things like holiday items and winter clothes, and then put them there to start! If you packed using cardboard boxes, though, definitely unpack them entirely: otherwise there’s a good chance that you’re going to lose track of something important that was accidentally tossed in a box of sweaters for “safekeeping”
For Owners: Try to Avoid Major Changes For a While
Obviously if you need to make major changes to a fixer-upper to make it habitable, that’s fine, but be wary of most big things before you’re actually living in the house. Houses, especially old ones, change over the seasons. Getting a sense of how the light shifts over the months may impact what kind of window fixtures you want to get. Knowing where the drafts are in the kitchen may impact how often you go barefoot (which may affect your decisions about flooring). Even paint colors can look super different in the winter compared to the summer. Beyond that, unexpected major expenses seem almost inevitable in a new house, so even if you’ve saved up for home improvement stuff, you don’t want to devote too much of it to minor aesthetic changes right off the bat.
Even if you just moved, we can help! We offer specialty moving services for things like pianos, and we can help with getting heavy furniture up and down your stairs to help you get that finished basement set up! Contact us to find out more.
